I’ve just received my contributor’s copy of Best Canadian Stories 12.  In it are the ten stories the venerable editor John Metcalf has selected as the best of the year.  I’m honoured that my “Poppycock” is included along with stories by writers whose work I’ve long admired – Shaena Lambert, Douglas Glover, Stephen Heighton,  Lynn Coady, Keath Fraser – as well as stories by newer writers.   Visit Oberon Press for more details.

Which is the title of my new story just published in Numero Cinq, the inimitable Douglas Glover’s on-line magazine.  Glover is just about the smartest and funniest writer-critic around.  I’m thrilled to be on his site.

Read “Your Dog Makes Me Smile”

The Porcupine’s Quill of Erin, Ontario, published my first book, Bad Imaginings, in 1993, on acid-free Zephyr Antique Laid stock, sewn into signatures.  It’s still in print.  I was recently interviewed by PQ intern Kathleen Icely and here is the result.

Here’s a very fine review of In the Flesh from the Globe and Mail.  Congratulations to all the contributors!

Pleased to Meet You is available as a full-length ebook, or as “singles” in this new initiative from Thomas Allen Publishers and Cormorant Books.  Take a look.

Buckled over laughing to learn that “How I Lost the War Against the War and Learned to Love Arnold Schwarzenegger” has been nominated for a 2011 National Magazine Award for Humour.  Many thanks to the very funny Lynn Coady and the most amusing Curtis Gillespe, Eighteen Bridges editors, for commissioning the piece.  Read all the nominees here.

My tenure as Richmond’s first Writer in Residence comes to a close this Thursday evening with the launch of a chapbook of work written by the students in my Fiction for ESL Writers workshop.  Please join us on Thursday March 29th at 7 pm at the Brighouse branch of Richmond Public Library.

Just received: my contributor’s copy of In the Flesh.  This anthology of original essays on our various body parts looks to be a fascinating read.  Andre Alexis, Trevor Cole, Kathy Page, Kate Pullinger, and Merilyn Simonds are just some of the contributors.

Teachers, instructors, professors:  The Sky Is Falling is available to academics at a 20% discount for both individual copies and course orders. Click here for details:  The Sky Is Falling

Which is the title of my new long short story just out in issue 121 of The New Quarterly, on better newstands now.